ASHBURN, Va. -- Joe Gibbs defended the Washington Redskins' aggressive approach to free agency on Wednesday, dismissing any implication that the team is somehow circumventing the NFL's salary cap.
"The thing I want to emphasize is this: We haven't done one thing that anybody else can't do," the Redskins' Hall of Fame coach said following a news conference to introduce free agent signing Andre Carter. "We have certain rules in the league. Here's the cap, here's the numbers, here's what you can spend, so everybody in the league can do what we're doing, it's just that they choose not to, many of them."

Despite starting the month some $13 million over the $102 million cap that was set following negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement, the Redskins have once again been one of March's busiest teams.

Since Saturday, they have traded for San Francisco receiver Brandon Lloyd and signed five unrestricted free agents: receiver Antwaan Randle El, safety Adam Archuleta, tight end Christian Fauria, backup quarterback Todd Collins and Carter. Randle El and Archuleta alone were given contracts with a combined $21.5 million in guaranteed money.

"Each team's a little different, how they want to build a team. ... Certainly Pittsburgh is a scheme that works, they won a Super Bowl," Gibbs said. "If you watch their team, there are a lot of draft choices, they're real conscious about that. It remains to be seen how we'll end up doing, but we've chosen to be more aggressive in free agency."

The Redskins put themselves under the cap by cutting five expendable players on the eve of free agency, and they also saved $4.4 million in the deal that made linebacker LaVar Arrington a free agent. Since then, they've been cutting cap dollars by renegotiating contracts with returning veterans, giving the players upfront bonuses that can be prorated for salary cap purposes.

Owner Dan Snyder's overspending in 2000 caused then-coach Marty Schottenheimer to make drastic cuts in 2001, but Snyder's strategy since then has been to map out a cap strategy using what Gibbs said were "three- to four-year spreadsheets." The goal is to shift cap money around in a coherent manner that keeps the team from being forced to part with players it wants to keep.

It hasn't worked perfectly -- coveted linebacker Antonio Pierce left for the New York Giants last year -- but Gibbs' free agency upgrades helped get the Redskins into the playoffs last year, and the overhaul continues. Only five projected 2006 starters were with the team before Gibbs arrived in January 2004.

"People say, 'Why would you go get the free agents?"' Gibbs said. "Well, look at the guys we wouldn't have on our football team."

The Redskins are able to afford huge signing bonuses because Snyder's marketing savvy has helped make the team one of the most profitable in sports, but Gibbs downplayed the connection between Snyder's fortune and the team's free agency haul.

"The biggest misrepresentation there is that (it's because) Dan's got a lot of money. That's not it," Gibbs said. "We've got a rule. Believe me, if we had no rules, Dan would spend some money."

Suitanim

03-16-2006, 09:32 AM

What else can he really say? "My owner is a douchebag, who can't learn from teams like the 49ers of the 80's"?, or "Yeah, it's really stupid for my owner to ridiculously overpay for these players"? He kind of has to toe the company line if he wants to keep his job.

Mr. Clean

03-16-2006, 06:52 PM

Dannyboy opens up the checkbook and signs players to seven-year contracts, so they can amortize the signing bonus over the lenght of the contract. That's how they do it.

A lot of these players, probably most of them, will never collect the money they signed for.

Gibbs prefrs veterans. He always has. In his first stint in Washington, the Redskins frequently traded their first round pick for a veteran player and relied on middle and late round draft picks for depth. Washington also signed Bears LB Wilbur Marshall to big dollars in 1988, giving up two first round draft picks in the process. When Jack Kent Crook owned the team, the Redskins stached players on the injured resrve list. At one time in the 1980s, they had 74 players under contract.

They have a stadium that has 90,000 seats squeezed into it and they charge $35 per game for stadium parking.

No matter how much money the Deadskins spend, they still have a fossil at quarterback who can't get out of his own way. It will be fun to see them crash and burn.

Ambridge

03-16-2006, 07:23 PM

but Snyder's strategy since then has been to map out a cap strategy using what Gibbs said were "three- to four-year spreadsheets." The goal is to shift cap money around in a coherent manner that keeps the team from being forced to part with players it wants to keep.

Snyder can only shift so much money for over a certain period of time and then he'll be getting a friendly visit from the Cap Police.
Hopefully he'll have nothing to show for his big spending.

MattsMe

03-17-2006, 12:11 AM

You know what they say...if you can't build it, buy it.

I think Gibbs is thrilled with the way they're putting their team together. For a coach who's way past his prime, it's the only way to have a winning team. I'm sure if they do well next season, Gibbs won't exactly shy away from taking credit for it. Kind of sad really.